During continuous rapid solidification on a chill surface, oxides and other contaminates can accumulate on the chill surface. These contaminates will degrade the casting surface, and ultimately may disrupt the casting process. R. E. Maringer et al., in an article entitled, "An Experimental Method for the Casting of Rapidly Quenched Filaments and Fibers", employ a rotating flapper wheel made from "fiberglass, cotton, plastic belting, or any other material which will keep the surface in good condition without leaving a deposit of its. own". The Maringer device may be ineffective when hard, tenacious oxides or other contaminates are deposited which cannot be removed from the chill surface without mechanically abrading or metallurgically upsetting the surface. Gouging or scrapping associated with removing tenacious contaminates will roughen the chill surface and thereby reduce the quality of the resulting ribbon or may make the production of continuous ribbon impossible.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,532 issued to Bedell et al. teaches employing a brush, not for the purpose of conditioning the wheel, but in place of a fluid jet, for stripping the ribbon from the casting surface.